This book in 3 words: Gripping. Thrilling. Unique.

Ice planet + wolves + survival + friendship = Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves. I'm kind of joking... this book is much more than that, but those are the key things that pulled me in to read this beauty. 

I read this story in just a few sittings because it just kept pulling me back in. I loved how it kept me engaged and wanting more. 

I don't know what it is, but I love a book with a "cold" setting (maybe because I can hibernate with said book while under a mountain of blankets, layers, and pair it with a hot beverage) and this story definitely delivers. The setting and world building is strong without inundating the reader with details. You get just enough to enrich the plot, when needed, and a little more when the description is crucial; a delicate balance but a job well-done by the author. 

I did feel like some of the pacing was a bit odd at times; sometimes it felt like this was 1.5 books. But no matter, I still enjoyed this one.

this book BROKE me in the best possible way. it is heartwarming and heartbreaking to watch Sena’s character develop and open up. all the characters are sympathetic and well developed and the worldbuilding is excellent.

i’m a sucker for animal stories, and the relationship she and Iska formed made my animal-loving heart happy. i recommend this book for readers who enjoy sci fi/fantasy, found family, and strong female characters who are sympathetic despite their flaws.

Title: Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves
Author: Meg Long
Genre: YA, scifi
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

After angering a local gangster, seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen must flee with her prize fighting wolf, Iska, in tow. A team of scientists offer to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition: she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race. Though Sena always swore she’d never race after it claimed both her mothers’ lives, it’s now her only option.

But the tundra is a treacherous place, and as the race unfolds and their lives are threatened at every turn, Sena starts to question her own abilities. She must discover whether she's strong enough to survive the wild – whether she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.

It’s been a while since I’ve read any scifi, and I enjoyed this foray back into it. It’s not hardcore scifi, but the cultures and peoples of the planet make for a fascinating setting—a planet run by gangsters and a hidden society who are against the corporate-driven greed that infuse the planet—with plenty of room for interesting diversions. The writing was solid, and I enjoyed the buildup to the race itself, but I feel like there were a few issues left unresolved by the ending. This is a solid debut, though, and I’d be interested in reading more from this author.

Meg Long wanted to be a spy when she grew up. Instead she became a writer. Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

I really enjoyed this one! It's fast-paced and has an unusual storyline. I think it will appeal to a lot of readers as it has hints of sci fi and survival. The main character is well-develped and if you're an animal lover you will definitely be invested in the wolf. Would recommend!

A cold world, sled races, and a bond between a girl and her wolf. This book was good, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t something I’d normally reach for but I liked it

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves seemed longer than it was. It had a lot of world building and it was explained quite well so you could actually almost see the world yourself. Two of the stars are for that alone and the third is for the wolf herself. She had more drive and personality than even the main character Sena. Sena was always down on herself no matter if something bad was happening or good. Yes her life on a frozen tundra with lighting and bad storms kinda sucked as her mother's who were looked down on by half the population died. But she has an aunt who she lives with to be there even though she isn't the warmest person, she was still around. Yet Sena was constantly feeling, saying, and acting like "poor me, my mother's are dead so I need to be a thief, and push everyone else away who tries to be a friend because I have no other choice". It's brought up so many times about the dead mother's that she's pretty much causing her own emotional issues yet then says I can't think about it while she's thinking about it for 70% of the book. Plot driven story more than character driven, the Wolf is as much a Main character and definitely the best lead character of the book. Without the personality of the Wolf this book wouldn't of been a decent read. It was slow going and then kinda rushed on the last 15% of the book. Author has promise with her world building style so I think will do better in future writings.
I'd like to thank Netgalley for giving me this book to read and this was my opinion on the book

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read an advanced copy of Cold the night, fast the wolves by Meg Long. This YA debut sounded right up my alley, but unfortunately, I found the story just slow, and the writing somewhat irritating at the beginning. I kept waiting for the pacing to pick up, the action to start, and I was about to give up when it finally did. I am sure the teens it is meant for will probably love it, but this one was not really my cup of tea. 21/2 stars rounded up to 3

You know that feeling when you're reading a book and you know that you aren't the right person for it? That happened while reading this. It was a "it's not you, it's me" cliché moment, and it's unfortunate, but as a result, I'm not going to post a review for this one.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC. I'm sorry that it didn't work out.

This book reminded me a lot of the survival stories I read as a kid, Hatchet , My Side of the Mountain, The Call of the Wild . I haven't read anything similar in a long while so it was nice to get out of my typical reads with this book. The interesting twist to this book is that instead of it being a survival story on Earth, it's on another planet that has a very inhospitable, arctic type climate. Large corporations hire race teams to take dog sleds, or rather vonenwolf sleds, to the dig site to mine exocarbon. The race route covers dangerous terrain over frozen rivers, down the sides of mountains, and through the splinter wooded full of dangerous predators. Through a series of events where Sena angers a local gangster, she eventually ends up on the sled team of a bunch of scientists along with the gangster's prize fighting wolf.

The first half of the book before the race drags a bit because there's a lot of world building that needs to be set up. I also found Sena annoying at that start because she has a "poor me" attitude and doesn't really do anything to help her situation. However, the second half of the book once the race starts really shines. It was so easy to picture the environment and all the things that happened, I felt like I was watching a movie while reading. There were multiple times I was at hate edge of my seat wondering if they were going to make it. The only downside was that there were a few things in the world building that I didn't quite understand and these kept nagging at me throughout the book, but other than that I really enjoyed it and would recommend if you're looking for a good adventure/survival story!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a fast paced, adventure novel. It follows Sena, a scrappy thief, who ends up doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and getting into trouble. Now she's on the run, participating in the one thing she said she would never do. Be a part of the race.

This book took a little while to set up the story, but even when it was slow, it felt necessary. I loved seeing Sena's personality start to show throughout the book and as it began to thaw. She starts of the book a loner with a heart walled off. Her moms died leaving her alone to fend for herself, and because of the nature of her planet, she has learned to trust no one. However, seeing her relationship with not only Iska (the wolf), but some of the other characters, grow and flourish was a journey. Her self hatred reminded me of myself sometimes, but when the other characters stood by her side instead of walking away? Monumental.

Aside from the relationship and character growth, the action in this book was heart pounding. It was nicely balanced out with calmer moments where not only the characters could decompresses, reflect, and grow but we as readers could slow down as well.

The real star of the show was Iska though. She was full of personality, loyalty, and her own growth as a character. Iska was a huge part of the story, if not more than her humanoid counterparts. I loved Iska and Sena's partnership from being forced together to choosing to be together.

My only complaint is that sometimes things were resolved a little too conveniently. Whenever they were in danger, while the danger itself was sweat inducing, when it finally got resolved, it felt almost too easy. However, that only detracted from the book for a small amount of time and didn't stop me from enjoying it as a whole.

I will state that that there wasn't any romance nor a hint of romance in this book. This is a adventure story. I didn't see a point for romance, so I was completely okay with the lack of a love interest. But I know some people might be disappointed.

In love with this book. Frozen planet, animal companion, found family, survival, corrupt corporation, dog sled racing what more could you want. The writing was phenomenal (I can't believe this is a debut), action packed. At 50% of the way through I was shocked that that is all I had read since so much as happened and I was thrilled that I still had 50% more to read. I have read books that are 500 pages long that don't have much world building and action as Meg Long has managed to do in 360 pages. I cannot wait to see what else Meg Long comes out with.

I did not finish this one - I gave up at 25%. The whole thing read as very flat to me, in terms of both world-building and characterization, and I'm not interested enough to go on.

I absolutely loved this novel! The story is fast-paced and engaging. The characters are believable and relatable. The relationships are real and dynamic. Reminiscent of The Call of the Wild, this exciting Adirondack-like plot is thrilling and interesting. Definitely a must read you won’t be able to put down.

This book was not it for me.

The concept of Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is intriguing. Set on an frozen planet ruled by corporations that control all aspects of life, a deadly Iditarod-style race is held every year to reach the fields and mine precious exocarbon. Sena is the daughter of a former racer who gave up her glory to marry a scavver, a group of people who don’t believe in living under the corporations’ thumbs. However, when her mothers died during a race five years ago, Sena found herself completely alone. She ends up picking pockets until she steals from the wrong people. Suddenly she finds herself on the run from the biggest racing gang in town with a prized wolf in tow.

The strength of this book is the world-building. This planet is an unforgiving frozen tundra populated by a cutthroat society. I felt the cutting chill of both the people and the environment as I read.

However, just because a book is geared toward younger adult readers doesn’t mean you need to dumb down the plot. The constant reminders that Sena’s mothers died as social outcasts were frustratingly repetitive. I felt like the author reminded me at least once per chapter that Sena's mothers died and told me that Sena was callous because of their deaths. And while her backstory certainly explained her preference of social isolation, I also suspect that Sena may be a loner because her actions actively endanger both herself and those around her, and the secondary characters are forced to give her a wide berth or else be caught in the crossfire. Her selfishness and lack of foresight contribute to most of her problems, and she spends a lot of time mentally kicking herself for putting people and wolves in danger again. And again. And again.

Honestly, the supporting characters exist solely to either move the plot or to act as a fairy godmother the main character. There were far too many hollow characters propping Sena up, including the wolf.

Overall, the plot was far too convenient and the characters far too underdeveloped for my tastes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sena is fighting for her life on Tundar, an ice planet separate from Old Earth that is known for its sled races. She despises the races since her mothers had died in their last race, and she especially despises the vonenwolves that help make it happen. However, when the mob boss she works under has an injured wolf, he tasks Sena with helping it get back to full health, or else he will throw her in the race. Will Sena comply, or will she end up in the same fate as her mothers?

The worldbuilding is perfect for readers who want to get into science fiction stories but don't want t be completely thrown into a new world. A lot of the systems are similar to our world, especially the idea of the sled racing and a bunch of other elements, but still has a lot of elements unfamiliar to us that are explained pretty well in my opinion, such as genetic modification. I will admit that some things felt a little bit forced just because they fit well with a specific part of the story. Example with minor spoilers: one of the characters is revealed to be a genopath, a human genetically experimented and modified on to basically be a better version of a human. Yet, when it is revealed, it's like Sena already knew about this but just didn't tell the reader. Not only that, but it's also not mentioned anywhere else in the story until this moment, so it feels forced in just for an additional layer of depth.

This story moved extremely slow for me, mainly due to the fact that a lot of the same stuff keeps happening over and over. This includes Sena sneaking around bases, Sena being aggravated, Sena grieving her mothers, and Sena constantly checking her surroundings after one noise. It felt so repetitive, and as a result it really lessened the impact of these things and the bigger implication of them. Sure, the book did have some great moments of suspension and tension, but their impact just didn't have as strong as a punch on me, to the point where I was like "oh okay, we're doing this again." Also, the plot twist at the end was extremely predictable, at least for me.

Speaking of Sena grieving her mothers, I want to talk about Sena as a character. For me, she wasn't the strongest main character. Yes, she can fight and I was extremely impressed by her knowledge of races and also the world of Tundar. However, those were the only real pluses I could attribute to her. She's extremely sheltered as a person and still kind of is at the end. She was basically defined by her mothers' deaths throughout the entire story, like you couldn't go ten pages without her mothers being brought up. As a result, Sena felt just completely defined by her trauma and nothing else as a person, which was extremely hard to read since I couldn't completely connect to her.

A good portion of this book is also bonding between Sena and the wolf she's tasked to heal, Iska. I liked their tension a lot at the beginning of the story, but it seemed to mellow out too quickly for my liking. Iska was trained to be a fighting wolf, and Sena grew up raising sled wolves, so they come from two completely different backgrounds. But when one saves the other's life, that's when stuff shifts. But it comes too quickly of a shift, and when you think a bond is starting to form it's yanked back in progression. It grew too fast when there should have been a more gradual progression with their relationship.

The characters were also mainly split into two categories: those who are actually good, and the assholes who have no redeeming qualities. I usually like my "asshole" characters to have some depth to them besides their main quality trait being to piss off the main character. As a result, their words and actions didn't have much of an impact on me, which sucks because a lot of their purpose is to be racist towards the indigenous peoples of Tundar, which Sena genetically is. Maybe the purpose of it was to show how Indigenous peoples can become desensitized to racist slurs and comments, but that is not my place to say as I am not a person of Indigenous heritage. I can't also comment on the representation of Indigenous peoples as a white person.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a good starter science fiction novel but not the best when it comes to execution, with heavily repetitive actions and messy characterization.

I received a copy of this novel as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was such an exciting story. It's a fast paced page turner that takes you on an exciting journey of survival. I ended up finishing it in two sittings. Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves keeps you on the edge of seat with your heart racing. It was simply spectacular!

I really liked Sensa as a main character. I thought she was fleshed out nicely and had good character growth. She is a well written, likeable character. Her relationship with Iska was just the sweetest thing. Watching them learn to trust each other and bond was so beautiful. They made a great pair of characters to follow and for me their relationship made the story what it was.

If you're looking for a survival story with  a touch of fantasy and an animal sidekick you need to check this out.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. For the most part I enjoyed this book. The main characters personality was pretty decent, although there were times where she annoyed me a little. I also enjoyed the story for the most part, my only real complaint about the book is that there is one spot in the middle where the story dragged a little.

I've been going out of my comfort zone and reading more sci-fi books because I've really enjoyed them, and Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long was no exception!

Imagine trying to survive as an outcast on a frozen wasteland of a planet while having to constantly watch your back for predators, both animal and human alike. That’s 17-year-old Sena’s life, but she finds a way to possibly leave her dangerous icy world. Of course, there’s a catch - she must race a sled pulled by vonenwolves (genetically engineered wolves) through a treacherous tundra to obtain the highly coveted exocarbon for the greedy corporate giants.

The highly atmospheric and intricate world-building made this a perfect wintertime read! I found the pacing a bit slow in the beginning, but I couldn't put this book down once the action picked up. Sena is a strong although at times frustrating character. She was left to fend for herself after the death of her mothers and understandably has trust issues, so she pushes people away and prefers to be alone. When Sena meets Iska, a vonenwolf whom she nurses back to health, she slowly begins to let her guard down. I adored the beautiful and heartwarming bond Sena forms with Iska! I also absolutely loved Remy, an engineer who races with Sena. This was a highly enjoyable story about survival, trust, loyalty, and friendship!

I would happily read more from this author in the future (perhaps a sequel featuring Sena, Iska, and Remy?)!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is an exhilarating, intense story of friendship, growth, and learning to fight for yourself. If you're a White Fang fan, but wouldn't mind something a bit more intense and futuristic, then look no further than this snowy, adventurous book.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves follows Sena, a teen who is essentially living to take care of herself and survive on a harsh, frozen ice planet. The reason this planet is even still inhabited is do to the availability of the much-needed resource of exo-carbon which essentially powers everything else in the galaxy. Because the planet is so hard to inhabit and navigate, the planets holds a large-scale, highly dangerous race once a year where teams battle it out to reach the exo-carbon deposits. These teams travel by sled which are led by genetically altered wolves known as "vonenwolves," which were developed to be able to withstand the brutal conditions of the ice planet. In addition to these racing wolves, there are also a subset of wolves trained and bred purely for fighting entertainment, a premise that I always find hard to read about. (I'm realizing now as I type this that this book is a bit difficult to explain without more context, so hopefully this descriptions makes a little sense!)

We follow the perspective of Sena throughout the story as she faces challenge after challenge while trying to improve her circumstances with the eventual goal of getting off of this brutal ice planet. Sena's mothers died in an exo-carbon race years ago, which has left her with a strong knowledge of wolves and vonenwolves, but a sour taste in her mouth for anything to do with the wolves or races. Of course, circumstances eventually place Sena in the middle of a race where she must adapt and teach her fellow racers how to survive. Accompanying Sena on this journey is Iska, a fighting wolf that I fell in love with pretty much from the start. I could not get enough of watching Sena and Iska's slow, gradual relationship build as they both learn to trust one another and work together. Iska is a grumpy fighting wolf who has a tough life and seems to just want to find someone she can trust and stick around with–without being too obvious about wanting any love, though, of course.

Sena is a tough protagonist whose sheer determination to just keep going was really enjoyable to read. Sometimes I find myself frustrated with characters who seem to have some inhuman ability to just keep going without any real drive, but Sena's motivations were readily apparent the entire time, and her gradual connections to Iska and the people she begins working with added additional influences on her actions and goals. I really appreciated how the author built up these relationships in authentic ways that felt very real and understandable.

The world-building was really carefully and intricately done, and I was impressed by how much detail Long really put into it. I think my only sort of caveat is that I almost feel like the author created this incredibly detailed and interesting world and then didn't have enough natural ways to fit all that information into the story without just throwing it around here and there, if that makes any sense. I'm not really meaning this as a big negative because it didn't take away much from my enjoyment of the story, but it was moreso just an issue where I felt like I had too much information thrown at me without enough story at times. Outside of this, though, the pacing felt very even throughout with plenty of action to keep things moving, and the latter portion of the novel gets pretty heavy with the action if that is your thing. I could've used a little less action at times, but that's truly a personal preference because it never felt out of place, and frankly, the racing portion needs plenty of action!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a stand out in the YA genre for me for a number of reasons, including its sci-fi world, cold and snowy setting, the focus on a human and animal bond, and the lack of any overarching romance. If you're looking for something new and exciting, then definitely pick up a copy of this one! Overall, I've given Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves four stars!

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long follows main character, Sena, an orphan who despises all aspects of the deadly sled race that happens annually on her home planet, from the race itself, to the people who compete, to the wolves who run it. However, when circumstances work against her, she finds she must take part in things she vowed she never would.

What worked:
- The world building - Sena's planet was cold and eerie and treacherous. The author did a great job conveying this throughout the book
- The relationship between Sena and one of the wolves, Iska. It was probably my favorite aspect
- Sena's reluctant friendship with her sled team. Some found family tropes going on!
- The monsters and challenges she had to overcome in the race. I personally enjoy reading about unique worlds and monsters

Things to know:
- The premise set up expectations that detracted a bit for me. My impression from the synopsis was that the race would be the focal point of the novel, and while it's at the heart of it, the actual race doesn't start till after 50% of the book. By the time I got there, I was losing focus and getting anxious.
- I liked Sena as a character. She is badass and unapologetic. But she is also a very YA character. She has some growth through the story but I would have liked to see more growth and more nuance
- I would have liked to see more development in some of the supporting characters

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a fun YA fantasy novel but I didn't feel like it broke any molds. It was an enjoyable read, but it felt kind of surface level. The premise was so intriguing, but I felt like the tension that should have been inherent in this type of story was lost by the time we reached the actual race.

As noted, it was a fun read and I would ultimately recommend it to those who like the fantasy genre, enjoy the found family trope, want a winter-y read, or enjoy seeing interesting world building and unique creatures in novels.